Prelude Music: Ye Elders of Israel

Opening Prayer: Will
Oh God, the Eternal Father, we thank Thee that we could come together for this conference. We ask Thee to pour out Thy Spirit upon us that we may hear Thy words, to know them and listen and understand them. Please pour out Thy Spirit upon those who are speaking, that they may speak Thy words and speak with power that all may understand them. In the name of Yeshua Messiah, amen.

Welcome: Joseph
Welcome everyone to the 2022 Winter Conference of the Family of Yeshua Messiah. It is a beautiful, warm day here today, we had a little bit of new snow and everything is clean and white. So we would like to start off the conference this day with our first speaker, Bill, if you would like to address us.

Connecting With The Lord:

Bill: Yes, thank you. I wanted to say a few words about connecting with the Lord, connecting with God, learning to love him and keeping his commandments. I wanted to begin, in the book of Exodus, we have the 10 commandments and Moses was the prophet, he goes up to Mount Sinai to meet with God, he is commanded to go up there, and he received from God the 10 commandments. This is Exodus chapter 20, I'm going to read the first 6 verses here, "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." And then verse 3, he gives the 1st commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Verse 4 is the 2nd of the 10 commandments, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

Now, here, the 1st of this year, we had a little summary given to us on our forum for those who are involved in the church, and the kind of summary was this, of those first commandments, allow nothing between you and God. This is really a simple summary, don't let anything get between us and the Lord, it's a simple way to evaluate it.

In the Book of Daniel, chapter 5, Daniel warns us, "Thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:" Simply put, do we put our trust in the arm of flesh or the works of man. If we place our hope in the arm of flesh or the things of the world and if our only god is not the only true and living God of Israel, then we are labouring in what they refer to as idolatry, and we are not keeping these first 2 commandments which is that we should not have anything between us and the true God of Israel.

And so, do we shift from trusting God to trusting in material things and it becomes kind of a simple formula to look at. Whatever we set our hearts upon and exercise faith in, becomes our god. If that thing is not the true and living God, then we're setting some other god before us, and the simple rule is, as we said, don't let anything get between us and the Lord.

We must ask, what are the modern day graven images that we set our hearts upon. Is it money, stock investments, property, education, credit cards, home furnishings, automobiles? Is it our job? Do we admire the Hollywood idols or the sports idols? Is it the quarterback, the actor, the politician, the superhero in the comic books? There are many things that can get between us and the Lord.

Now the Lord gave us revelation in our day, this is in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 1, verse 16, "They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall."

Now the Book of Mormon prophet, Moroni, was shown us by God, he saw our day, and he said, and this is on page 535 in the Book of Mormon, "Ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry and the needy and the naked and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you and notice them not."

How do we tell if we are putting some other god before our Father, the true God of Israel, and if we are, how do we identify what idols we do worship? We may consider asking ourselves a question, what do we spend our time on? Is it on seeking to connect with God? Is it on our family? Is it spent in service to others? Is it on our job, or our education, or our hobby? How much time during the day do we watch TV, or play video games? How many hours a day are we involved in studying the Lord's promises given to us in scripture? Does how we spend our time indicate what it is we really value?

In the scriptures, the sin of idolatry is a pretty serious offence, it caused all sorts of problems that we are familiar with and it caused much distruction and heartache and pain and suffering, and so, it's in our best interest to actually live these first 2 commandments.

Here's an interesting question, in this crazy world of ours, are there actually people who want us to worship them instead of the Lord? There are those who want us to set them up as objects of our affection instead of the God of Israel. There are actually those who ask us to "follow them." We see it on social media, they seek to have followers, they want us to be their followers. Why do they want us to follow them? Well, the Book of Mormon actually has the answer here and it's on page 58, it warns us that there are churches which are built up to get gain and those who are built up to get power over the flesh and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world and those who seek the lusts of the flesh. According to the Book of Mormon, these things must be brought low. They will be consumed as stubble. They are identified as part of the kingdom of the devil. So these are 4 of the evils we are to avoid, these are 4 idols that we should be pretty careful with.

So, looking at what I've just said here, we can identify when people are seeking money, power, popularity, and the lusts of the flesh, those are specifically listed in the Book of Mormon, these are idols we must avoid. These 4 things are anti-Zion goals. It's in that very chapter of the Book of Mormon where it identifies these evils, it reminds us that all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed and we know that Babylon the great will fall.

So what is it we must follow? The Lord said repeatedly, come follow Me. Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, had a vision of the ministry of the Lord, and this is on page 119 of the 1830 Book of Mormon, "Wherefore, after that he was baptized with water," speaking of the Lord, "The Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove. And again: It sheweth unto the children of men the straightness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. And he saith unto the children of men, Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus, save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father? And the Father saith, Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my beloved Son. And Also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying, He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do." This is pretty clear stuff, isn't it?

The Lord also said, again repeatedly, "Behold, I am the light; I have set an example for you." It's on page 491.

The prophet Alma, son of Alma, taught his son, Shiblon, this is page 331, again, in the 1830 Book of Mormon, and by the way, the Book of Mormon does repeat exactly those 10 commandments that we talked about from the Bible. Alma say, "And now my son, I have told you this, that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only in and though Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness."

Then the Lord personally taught the Book of Mormon people in the land Bountiful, when he came here after the destructions, this is page 492, "Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up -- that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed; and ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment, suffereth himself to be lead into temptation."

Well this is an interesting one, because if you remember when the Lord appeared in the land Bountiful, 2500 people that were there, men, women and children, personally went up and touched the wounds in his hands and in his feet and in his side. So when the Lord says, "You are commanded," he is talking to us, "That ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see." Same thing, we are supposed to do what they did. The Lord introduced Himself to the Book of Mormon people in the land Bountiful following the great destructions that had occurred, and the more righteous at that time were spared and the more wicked were not spared, you could put it that way I guess. The Lord said, when he introduced Himself, this is page 473, "Behold I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I created the Heavens and the earth, and all things that in them is. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. I came unto my own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures, concerning my coming, are fulfulled. And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the Sons of God." Now He tells us in other places in the scriptures yet, and daughters, so don't get offended when it says sons right here, because it does say and daughters in other scriptures. "And even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name: for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. I am the light and the life of the world."

And then on page 546 and 547, He gives us some more instruction, "And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good, is of me: for good cometh of none, save it be of me."

Alright, so if you think some idol is going to give you something good, the Lord doesn't think that, all good comes from Him, and only Him. "I am the same that leadeth men to all good: he that will not believe my words, will not believe me, that I am, and he that will not believe me, will not believe the Father which sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world." I don't know if you paid attention the number of times I've read where the Lord says, "I am," it's kind of interesting, it sounds like something he told Moses, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am." You know, that's that identifying phrase, and so it's repeated throughout the scripture here.

And then the Lord reminded us that you cannot serve God and mammon, so you can't serve God and some other idol. You cannot serve Baal or Moloch or Hollywood or Nashville or any other Babylonian entity. We must only serve our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.

Now Moroni, at the end of the Book of Mormon, gives us some really good information about our relationship with the Lord, at the very end of the Book of Mormon, page 587-588. He tells us that the only object of our worship must be the Lord. Moroni says this, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in no wise deny the power of God. And again, if ye, by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father, unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy without spot."

It's my humble prayer we can follow the true Lord and keep all of his commandments, beginning with these first 2 commandments listed in the 10 commandments.

Call Upon The Name Of The Lord:

Chris: Good day everyone. I have a story that I'd like to share, it's from the Book of Mormon, which there are many stories, but this particular story comes from the 1st chapter of the Book of Ether. It's the beginning of the account of the ancient people who inhabited the north countries of this land. It starts, actually, in another land, in the time of the great tower. The building of this great tower was an abomination unto the Lord, and so the Lord began to confound the language and scatter the people. Jared did not want to have his language confounded and knew that he must be given the way to keep his language through the Lord, and so he went to his brother and asked his brother if he would pray, and he said to his brother, "Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words." You see, Jared knew that his brother was highly favoured of the Lord and that he could receive the answer. So the brother of Jared went and cried unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion on Jared and both Jared and his brother were able to communicate and understand each other.

With this example, we see that Jared actually had to humble himself to go to his brother to ask of the Lord, to work together to be able to continue to speak their language and understand each other. And so, this pattern continues to happen. Next, Jared goes to his brother and he asks him to cry unto the Lord again and so he does. This time, he cried unto the Lord and asked if the Lord would allow that their family and their friends would now be able to continue to speak their language and to continue to understand and communicate with each other. And the Lord had compassion again, and so they were able to keep their language and be able to communicate with each other and understand one another.

I liked how in this story, Jared and his brother actually have to work together. Jared, he knows what questions to ask and that's his strength, and his brother, he knows how to receive the answer and he has the relationship with the Lord in order to receive the answer. The two together can receive from the Lord, of which they did, and this is how they were able to continue to communicate and to keep their language, this language that keeps them connected with the Lord.

Again, this story continues and Jared now asks his brother to go inquire of the Lord whether they're to drive out of the land or not. He said, "Cry unto him whither we shall go... And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance." And so Jared and his brother were told that they are to leave the land, to gather their family, gather their friends, and their flocks of every kind and seeds and deseret and all the things that they gather, and to leave the land and go down into the valley which was northward. And the Lord said, "And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into [the] land... There will I bless thee and thy seed, and raise up unto me of thy seed, and of the seed of thy brother... a great nation... And thus I will do unto thee because of this long time which ye have cried unto me."

And so Jared and his brother did as the Lord instructed and they went down into the valley and the Lord did meet them there and he came down and talked with the brother of Jared and he was in a cloud. As the Lord was in the cloud, he commanded Jared and his brother, that they should go forth into the wilderness and the Lord did go before them in a cloud and did talk with them as he stood in the cloud and gave them directions wither they should travel. Because Jared and his brother did continue to call upon the Lord, and because of their great faith, they were directed continually by the hand of the Lord.

The Lord didn't want that they should stop there beyond the sea and the wilderness. He would that they come unto the land of promise, which was a choice land above all other lands, and a land that is preserved for righteous people, a land of promise, where whoso possesses it shall serve the Lord; or they would be swept off, and this when they are ripened in iniquity. And so we see this is the everlasting decrees of God, that God's people come unto the Lord, even upon a land of promise set aside for the people of God, and that they should serve God, or they shall be swept off. And to those who are not serving the decrees of God, being gentiles, are to repent of their iniquities and serve God.

Now I wanted to point out that this choice land is a promised land and the reason it's a promised land is because all those that possess the land will be free from bondage and from captivity, and this, if they will but serve the God of the land, which is Jesus Christ.

Continuing with the story, the Lord did bring Jared and his brethren forth to the great sea that divided the lands, the ocean. They dwelt in tents on the seashore for 4 years, and at the end of the 4th year, the brother of Jared went to the Lord and cried unto the Lord and the Lord chastened him because he did not call upon the name of the Lord, and so the brother of Jared repented and did again call upon the name of the Lord. The Lord did forgive the brother of Jared, and he did say, though shalt not sin anymore. And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared, and his brethren, He said, go to work and build, after the manner of barges hitherto built. And the brother of Jared did go to work, and his brethren went to work, to build the barges after the manner of which the Lord instructed. As they followed the Lord, they did build 8 barges, of which were tight as a dish, and they had a hole in the top and in the bottom of which was stopped.

And the brother of Jared again cries to the Lord, and he said, "O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold, there is no light in them." And the Lord said, "What will ye that I should prepare for you, that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?" So the brother of Jared went forth unto the mountain and he did molten out of rock 16 small stones that were as transparent as glass and he carried the stones to the top of the mountain and cried unto the Lord. In his prayer he said, "O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires." And he continued and he said, "Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness." And this, the brother of Jared asked, that they may have light. Then the Lord touched the stones, one by one, and the veil was taken from the eyes of the brother of Jared and he was able to see the finger of the Lord and from this, he was astonished and so he fell, he fell down and then the Lord, of course noticing that he fell, asked the brother of Jared, why did you fall down, and so the brother of Jared tells the Lord that he did not know that He was made of flesh and blood, and the Lord said unto the brother of Jared, "Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast."

The brother of Jared then asked the Lord to show Himself and the Lord asked the brother of Jared, "Believest thou the words which I shall speak?" And the brother of Jared answered, "Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie." Then the Lord showed Himself unto the brother of Jared and said, "Because thou knowest these things, ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I shew myself unto you." And the Lord continues and says, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have light, and that eternally, even they which shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters."

We, like the brother of Jared, and Jared, and those friends and family with them, we too can receive this light from the Lord, just as it says in this story, just as the vessels receive light, if we call upon the name of the Lord and we have faith and we continue in faith, we will have light.

I do have one last scripture in the Book of Moroni, chapter 7, "And Christ hath said, If ye will have faith in me, you shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

And with that, I say these things in the name of Yeshua Messiah, amen.

Faithful to the Commandments:

John: Thank you guys for coming here. I wanted to talk a little bit about being faithful to the commandments, even when it is not quite so easy. See, a lot of people believe that when they are in the right, that they have a right to use force. They believe that when their siblings are not doing the right thing, it is their job to make them do the right thing, or to call them names until they do it, one of the two. They seem to get confused a lot. Yes, I am talking about you guys. They are all the ones smiling right now, but you guys cannot see them. Whenever people think that they are doing the right thing, they think that they have now the right to take away someone else's freedom to do what they want.

There was a little story in the Book of Mormon I wanted to share. It was about two guys who, well, they did not even fight back when other people tried to hurt them. They kept the commandments, you know, not to return evil for evil, even when they were in the right, even when they innocent, even when they were the ones doing what God said. They never fought back when people tried to hurt them, because their parents had taught them to remember the prophets of old, to remember, you know, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Nephi and Lehi. And not just to remember them, but to remember what they did, you know, they all went through hard times, but they all used those times to become better people. They never got angry at the people around them, they never tried to curse them or hurt them. They only spent all their time trying to help people. And their father taught them to remember everything that happened, all the bad things that happened to them, and all the times that God delivered them, and all the good things they did, so that these brothers could repeat them.

But they were not supposed to do it so they could brag about how great they were and how wonderful they are and that they are going to heaven and that we are all going to hell. They were supposed to be doing it so they could have eternal life, just like all of the fathers that had gone on before, the patriarchs and the messiahs who have come before them. And their father taught them that it was only through Yeshua or only through Jesus that people could be saved, but not so that they could be saved sinning, you know, they are not there to live eternal lives in sin, constantly hurting people and being hurt, they are there to live their eternal lives in virtue, being good, and the only way that they can do that is by repenting. Stop doing the bad things they are doing, stop hurting each other, and start actually doing the good things, keeping the commandments, even when other people are hurting them. And that everyone who does this, the devil cannot destroy, no matter what he does to them, he can never hurt them because it is only their own actions that are going to prove if they can live an eternal live, because it is if you are being virtuous or whether or not. You can live forever, but if you live forever in your sins, that is called being in hell, and if you live forever in virtue, that is called being in heaven. So nothing the devil can do to you can actually send you to hell, it is only what you do that can do so.

And so these two brothers, they quit their jobs and they decided to say that they would spend the rest of their lives preaching, being missionaries. And they went from town to town, until they ran out of towns to go to, and then they up and went to the next area, the next region, where they again tried to go from city to city and they convinced a lot of people to repent and stop, you know, being evil, stop hurting each other, stop stealing from each other, stop lying about each other. And it did not take too long until an army came up against them, they used an entire army to track them down and to grab them and drag them off into prison, just for helping people to repent.

And after a few days in the prison, you know, they beat them a few times and they starved them and then they left them in the prison and then once they built up their courage enough to come kill these two missionaries, who just came to help them, they walked into the prison and found that these two guys were all bright and shiny, glowing, and they were actually so bright, that people thought that they were on fire and they were even worried that the prison they were in was going to burn, because of how bright they were. And these people started to get pretty scared, they got so scared, they could not move, they could not talk, they could hardly breathe, they just kind of went catatonic. And when these two brothers saw these people had got scared, they said, you know, do not worry, this is just what God is doing. See, after these people had even treated them so badly, they easily forgave them, and even tried to calm them down again. But when the two brothers were speaking, it says the walls of the prison and the ground shook. Everyone else in the prison, many of the people who had been to church before and had decided that it was not for them, they just got even more scared. They could not see anything, they could not hear, they could not think, their minds were covered in darkness. And they heard a voice that said, you guys knock this off and stop trying to kill your brothers, something along those lines anyways.

The story goes that it was not a loud voice and there was not a lot of other noises in the background, it was not a cacophonous sound, it was not really loud, there was not a bunch of other voices in between, it was just one, very calm, very still, very mild voice. It was a voice that even though it was very calm and mild and even though the walls were still shaking and the ground was still shaking, everyone could hear it, and it actually says it goes right through them and into their bone and right to their soul. And the voice said again, you know, you guys repent and stop trying to kill your brothers. And the third time it came again and it says that it was so amazing and marvelous things, that it cannot even be repeated by people.

Of course, the army that of course came up against them because they were upset that they were teaching people to be good and the more people who were being good, the less people were being bad, and the army does not like that, because then they are all alone and there one to justify their actions, they cannot say well everyone does it, they cannot say that is just the way the world works, when everyone else is being good and it is just them doing the wrong. But they were still getting even more scared with the walls shaking and the ground shaking and everything was so dark, they could not understand anything, but one of the guys among this army, who had been to church as a child, remembered, you know, what he had learned at church and remembered what his mommy taught him, you know, stop fighting with his brothers and stop stealing from his sisters. He looked over and saw these two brothers who were still in the light, and he saw them talking to somebody, but he could not see who they were talking to, because it was still dark, in his mind. And when he pointed it out to everyone else and said, look, they said, well who are they talking to, and the guys who had been to church before and knew the gospel and knew the commandments, said, yeah, they are talking to the angels, because even though they could not see them, they still knew because they taught earlier. And so this army decided, you know, maybe it is time we should repent from what we are doing and so they all got on their knees and started crying out for the Lord to save them, and they did not just pray, they continued to pray until they repented, until they were so far driven, that they were never going to hurt anyone else again. And once they had repented fully, and had decided that they would never again do anything like this and never hurt anyone again, even if the other people tried to hurt them, then they got the Holy Ghost and they heard the voice of God come again and say, peace, peace be unto you, because you are doing what my son taught you, what the Saviour actually came to teach, because that was the plan from the beginning, was that you guys would be allowed to do anything you want, and choose whether or not you wanted to be good or be bad. And then, once they had repented, they tried to look around because when they heard the voice again, they tried to look and see who was talking because they could not see him, but they saw the Heavens open up and the angels come down and the angels started teaching them. And once the angels were teaching them, they told them, you know, what are you guys doing standing around here for, you do not need to doubt about it, you do not need to stand around with your jaws open staring, get out and start doing what these two missionaries were doing for you, and they did. Just like the two missionaries who came to them, they went out and they started preaching and teaching and telling everybody what they had seen and people did the same thing to them that they did to those two missionaries. They were not nice to them, many of the people tried to get angry, and they beat them, and they would chase them out. But when the army that had first turned against these two missionaries started having the same things done back, they did not get angry, there were still a lot of them, they could have gone as an army, and they could have started hurting people, and forcing them to do what they want, but they accepted every time somebody hurt them and they did not even feel bad about it, like they did not get angry at people for it. They only kept praying for those people, just like the two missionaries in jail, they did not pray for all the army to drop dead, they were praying that they could be saved, that these people who hurt them, could be their brothers for the rest of eternity. They wanted these people to be helped, they did not want to hurt them.

And the rest of these, it says there were about 300 of them who went out preaching and teaching, and when these 300 went out, they did what the two missionaries did for them. They forgave people, they were faithful in keeping the commandments, even when people hurt them, they never tried to force their way on others, they never tried to force them to repent, they never even tried to stop them from hurting them. They ran away, but they never picked up weapons, they never yelled at them, they never even called them names.

They were faithful in keeping the commandments, even when people were hurting them, even though they were doing the right thing, even though they were trying to help them, it still never gave them the right to try and force other people to do something they did not want to do. And because of their behaviour, they were able to convince far more people to lay down their weapons, to stop going to war, stop hurting, stop hating people, even to stop doing things they had been raised since birth to do, and to even give back everything that they had stolen before. And those people, who the 300 taught, started to repent, and instead of taking and hurting and forcing other people, they started to give and to help people, to heal the sick, and later it says that they were even prophesying and teaching.

They had many other gifts and miracles from God, because they were willing to do what God said to do, like what the two boys father taught them, that they are supposed to repent, that Christ would come, He would make a way for them to all be saved, but not to be saved doing evil, not to live forever in sins and horrible things, but to live forever in virtue and light and love and kindness to one another. And the only way that could be done is if people repent of what they did wrong, like the 300 people, like everyone they taught, they had to repent of what they did wrong, they had to stop doing it, they had to stop making the war and hurting one another, and they had to give back the land, undo the evil they had done, and they had to start actually taking care of people, teaching people, and helping people, and they had to do it some much that even when somebody tried to hurt them, they would never even fight back. They were so calm and peaceful that even when somebody tried to hurt them, they still saw them as their brother, they still saw them as their sibling who was just yelling at them for some reason or another, who thought they should be doing this or they should be doing that.

So if we could be a little more like these people and even when bad things happen to us, we do not fight back, we do not stop keeping the commandments just because things are not going the way we want them to. I mean, just because you are late for work or it rains when you wanted it to be sunny, it is not really comparing to the people who got beat and thrown in prison and people came to kill them, and all these people did in return was love them and teach them and help them as much as they could. So I think we can try a little bit harder to be nice to each other and stop calling each other names or gossiping about each other. And even when something goes wrong, to follow the commandments even more than before.

The Creating And Sealing Of Eternal Families:

Joseph: Good evening everyone. At this evening’s session of this Winter Conference I would like to discuss a subject that is very tender to me; and right at this time, it is actually extremely tender to me. And so, I would like to ask your prayers, and the good feelings of every person here, that I may reveal the hope that the Lord has offered to us, and how a person may secure that hope for themselves.

The hope of which I am speaking is that of Eternal Families, of eternal relationships. I would like everybody to kind of take a moment and think a little bit of how many here have lost loved ones in this life? How many of us have a longing to be with our ancestors, to be united with them again, to be with our descendents? Even to be with our great, great, great, great grandchildren who have not even been born yet? How many of us have that desire to be united with our family, to be united with them in Heaven? To be united not only here, but also in Heaven?

I recently attended a funeral of a very young child, and it was very hard; it was very difficult to see a young child,… to see the family lose hope. At the passing of a loved one, we often question why? Why is it in the plan? Was it the plan of God? Did we do something wrong? The question of why it had to happen comes into play.

We read the scriptures, we find out answers, we find what the prophets have said, we find even what the Lord Himself has said; and even though our mind may understand logically why it had to happen, our hearts often do not understand. Our hearts are always very tender and raw.

We are taught that life is a circle, and that it will continue long after this mortality. That our ancestors who have gone before us are there on the other side of the veil, always talking to us, always communicating with us in many different ways. Always trying to help us and lead us, and give us good advice to help us so that we can do better in our lives here. And, even they want us, like any loving parent, to do better than they did. They want us to know things. They want us to overcome things. They want us to be able to overcome all the difficulties of this world. Because they know what it is like also, to lose family. They know what it is like to lose their friends.

But they also know the joy of seeing each other again. They know the joy of being welcomed into each other’s arms. They wait for us on the other side of the veil.

Before we were born in this mortality, we were all involved in the planning of different things that would happen in our life here; some things that we needed to struggle through to help us to become stronger, some things that would bring us great joy.

But this life is so short, and soon, all our struggles will be over; we will all go home and we will hug our families. Those who have left a little earlier than us will be there waiting for us, with smiles on their faces and their arms wide open to receive us.

We are taught, that this life is actually just a small piece of our existence; that this mortality is only here for us to learn to grow in this way. We cannot grow like this by any other way, except by being here upon this earth.

We are taught that our Heavenly Father and our other ancestors have already gone through a life like this, this life of mortality themselves.

When our Lord Yeshua came here, we were told that He laid down His crown in heaven and was born as a man here upon the earth; that He actually gave up everything up in Heaven to come here for only one reason, and that was to help us; to show us how to live, to show us how to live our lives in kindness and in love, in caring for each other.

Our Lord was a very caring man and he taught: Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those that comfort those who stand in need of comfort.

This principle of caring for each other, of not only feeling the emotion, but of actually taking care of each other, is not just a feeling; it is actually taking care of each other, comforting others. Sometimes when we are in pain, the only comfort that we can get is if we put our pain aside for a moment and comfort someone else. That is actually what helps heal that broken heart. Even though we are the ones that need healing, if we go and help comfort someone else, help to heal their heart, then our heart also heals.

It is said of our Lord that He did not laugh very much, but that He was easily brought to tears for the sadness and suffering that people had to live through. So here is a gentleman that cared very deeply for all of us. He mourned with those who mourned. Remember, He wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. He wept when other people wept. The Lord mourned with those who mourned. He comforted those who stood in need of comfort. He was a Man who cried with those who cried. He was a Man who cared! He was a Man who still cares to this day. A Man who even now, from His throne in Heaven, sheds tears of mourning for us and our losses. So here we have the Lord who is a very caring person. And our sufferings, even today, are seen and felt by our Lord and Saviour, for He is still, to this day, a Man of great compassion!

How many of us realize that He cares for us? That even now, from the other side of the veil, that He cares for us? That He cares for our lives here upon the earth? Do you realize that He did not even live His own life when He was upon the earth? He did not even live His own life when He was upon the earth! The scriptures say that the Messiah laid down His life for us. It means that He laid it down every day. He never had His own life at all. He only lived for us. He did not do things in His life for Him. He did not accomplish things in His life for Him. He was sent to do the will of the Father, and he did! And the Father’s will was, Go and tell My children that they can come home. And He said that He was the way to heaven - To lay down your own life every day and live for each other.

This Man came to live a righteous life here upon the earth, to show us that it can be done. He was born into mortality, became a mortal man, to show us that it can be done, that we can live a mortal life. And even though we may have a hard time doing it at times, we can certainly try, we can certainly improve, we can practice, we can do better. And, the Lord promised us, and this is most interesting thing to me, that the Lord promised us that if we lay down our lives for each other, if we live each day for each other like He lived each day for us, we will be brought to where He is. And, if we live each day for each other and go where our Lord has gone, then we will see each other again.

He said that He is the way; and he showed us the way by living that way; and if we live the way He lived, then we will have the same as He has.

Just prior to His crucifixion, the Lord said that He would go to His Father’s house and actually make a place for us there. That he would have a nice room ready for us. He is ready for us.

He wants us to be there where He is. He never came to earth to say: You are unworthy. He came to earth and said: I want you to come home.

All of His stories, His parables, taught about coming home; they taught us about turning our hearts to kindness, and love to each other so that we can come home. We have to love each other without expecting each other to do what we want each other to do. We have to love each other the way we are; and not get mad at each other; not get angry at each other; not get grumpy for each other; but to love each other, to do good, and to always do good to each other. Not to look at the other person and say he should be doing good to me, she is not doing what she is supposed to do. He never said that, He said for us to love each other.

He wants us to be there in Heaven, as do all of our ancestors; Lady Miriam, Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, they need you to come home. They miss you; They want you. That is why They sent the Son of God to come and get us, to show us how to come home. And that way is for us to take care of each other; lay down our lives, our hopes and dreams of accomplishing worldly things. Get rid of that. Put nothing between us and God. Only desire to do good, to help each other, to help Heavenly Father by helping each other.

This seems rather difficult because here upon the earth, we have this desire to accomplish all the worldly things we can, and we forget what happened before we came here. But just like on this earth, just like if we were going to go to school, if we were going to go to college, we would chose our classes; we plan our education; we would plan our degrees. In that way, in a similar way to that, we planned our lives here upon the earth before coming here. And with the help of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, we plan our lives here. We plan some of the things that we have to go through. And whether our life is a very short one or a very long one, we go through those things and learn those things that we need to learn, and we strengthen ourselves in those areas that we need strength.

And make no mistake, those who have passed on before us, they care about us, they weep for us, they try to get messages to us. And yet it is up to us to focus on Them, to focus on Heavenly Father, to actually try and hear, and get closer and closer to Him till we can hear clearly. And our loved ones are there waiting for us, waiting patiently for us.

This brings me to another point - eternal families is the purpose of this earth. When Adam and Eve came to the earth, they were told multiply and replenish the earth. They were told to have a family; to take care of them. Adam was told to work and take care of his family, and Eve was told that it would be hard, in childbearing, and not just bearing the child, but also raising the child; that there would be great sorrow.

Mary, the mother of Yeshua in the flesh, was told that a sword would pierce her soul also.

Family relationships are meant to last. There is a reason we call our Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Father. There is a reason we call our Heavenly Mother, our Heavenly Mother. Families are meant to last. And one of the greatest blessings that Father has shared with us is, How to have our relationships, our families, last for eternity. This has been a major theme and covenant throughout the scriptures; not only to be reunited in a Zion here upon the earth, but to be reunited and bound together in familial love throughout all Eternity.

Look at Abraham, one of the more famous covenants given, was that Abraham would have descendents as numerous as the sands of the sea, as the stars of the sky; that his children would bless all nations of the earth.

Why would Father promise such a thing if it was not important. Why does He say He wants to have a nation of priests that follow Him.

It has been described that this is this method that the Lord has for creating this family bond is the greatest blessing that this earth has to offer! But, we have to understand how these blessings are to be achieved? And that is why the Lord and Saviour came. The Lord and Saviour came to show us how to actually achieve all of these blessings. He came to show us how to achieve these blessings that would seal our families together forever.

When the Lord came to the Nephites, after His resurrection, He gave them the words of Malachi, because Malachi was a prophet who came after, and he gave them the words of Malachi, which says: “I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” So He is going to send Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. The fathers, who have gone on before us, to turn their hearts to us; and turn our hearts to them, or the earth is worthless. We see here that this is the main point of this earth, one of the primary goals.

And it is said that Elijah “shall reveal the covenants of the fathers in relation to the children, and the covenants of the children in relation to their fathers.” TPJS, pg. 321 In other words, what responsibilities? Elijah is supposed to reveal the responsibilities of the Fathers to the children and responsibilities of us to the Fathers. Elijah has this big role to play, to actually teach us how to make this connection with our ancestors, with our Heavenly Father.

Elijah revealed these covenants to us, and he has accomplished this great work of sealing the hearts of the Fathers to the children, and seal the hearts of the children to the Fathers. These covenants contain, (that he taught, that he was sent to teach,) they contain that further light and knowledge that we seek after. These covenants are like gifts of knowledge; they are gifts of knowledge. They provide us that further light and knowledge that when we live that knowledge, those ways, they will enable our family ties to last throughout the eternities.

But we have to actually live it. When the servants of God live up to these covenants, they will be sealed in their foreheads, having the everlasting covenant sealed upon them. Joseph Smith made a comment here, he said: “When a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother.” TPJS, pg. 321

Now how can this possibly be? Since everybody has agency, and we cannot remove agency, how is it that the posterity cannot chose to be lost? How can they not chose to go astray?

They will be saved by virtue of the covenant, or in other words, by the knowledge, that gift of knowledge, that endowment of knowledge that is given to the father and the mother, to pass on to those children and those grandchildren. And when the time comes, those children will be able to grasp a hold of that knowledge and live it. And the father and the mother, the parents of that child or grandchildren or whoever, will have the right to continue to working with those children, and be able to draw them to goodness. They have a chance to continue.

It is therefore up to the fathers and the mothers and parents everywhere to live up to those covenants, to live up to that endowment of knowledge, so that the ordinance may be ratified by Heaven, and their children sealed to them for eternity.

We actually have to,… maybe I should try and explain it in more simple terms?

It is up to us to live as the Saviour taught, to live as Elijah taught. And if we can live that way, we will have the natural consequences of our children growing up to the Lord. But it is up to us. We cannot just slight those counsels. We cannot just forget about what the Lord taught us and say, I don’t wanna do it today. And then at the last day, we are standing there saying: Oh Lord, you promised. The promise was if you do these things, you will have this result. (If ye do not do these things, ye have no promise. D&C) If you live according to the knowledge that Elijah reveals, then you will have the result of your children for Eternity.

So it is entirely up to us, it is in our hands only. It is in the hands of no one else. (agency) Our Father gave us this knowledge, it is up to us if we are going to live it or not.

When the Saviour came to the Nephites, He asked them: “Verily, I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify His name in me, that there were many saints which should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And He saith unto them: Were it not so? And His disciples answered Him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were fulfilled. And Jesus saith unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many, and did minister unto them? And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written. And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as He commanded.” Now the reason I bring up this scripture is because I want everybody to realize that the Lord is the one telling us to have this scripture. The Lord is the one who wants us to know that the resurrection is already happening. He wants us to know that everything that we were promised, that families can continue, He wants us to know that this is true. He wants us to see that it did already begin to happen. That it is not something that maybe someday will happen, but it is actually happening.

So we see that the resurrection had already begun and that we will be reunited with loved ones, and have the opportunity to continue in the family bond throughout the eternities. But we need to pay attention to how we can secure this promise for ourselves. We need to have those ordinances performed, that endowment of knowledge given to us. We have to have that information so that we know how to live. And if we live that way, then we can have that sealing; to be sealed up by the Holy Spirit of Promise! To have that promise ratified by Heaven.

I actually have quite a lot of scriptures and things like that, that I could go through here, but I think I will just post some quotes later, so that people who want to look it up and do a little bit of research can.

I think I want to just get a couple of more things across here.

In order for us to receive our children to ourselves, to have a family bond that will continue, we need to live for each other. Like a husband and wife who want their relationship to continue, they need to live through each other, I mean live for each other through any hardship that actually happens. They need to actually put the other person first, live and breathe for the other person. Your heart must beat for that person. You do not take a break from that. You need to love that person, like actually take care, not just love in your heart, but love out here in your actions and your behaviour, to actually take care of each other. And if we can do this through all obstacles; if we can draw closer and closer together, not only to each other, but each other also to God, then we can have that ordinance ratified upon us. We have to have the ordinance, we have to have the blessing in order to stay together. We have to have that knowledge, in other words, taught to us. And then we have to live that knowledge through all storms. And as long as we can do it, then we will gain that blessing, that ratification from Heaven.

Remember Job; Job was a gentleman who lived according to what the Lord said. He lived everything. And he would not turn his back on the Lord, he would not talk against the Lord. And Job, you know, the devil took everything from Job, took everything away from him, and Job still would not talk bad about Heavenly Father. And after it was all said and done, and everybody left him, he would still cry out to Father in Heaven. And Father saw that Job was faithful through all things. And, then afterwards, blessed Job. He blessed him. Doubled everything that he had monetarily, but He also blessed him with a wife and ten more children and these blessings that would last for Eternity. And it is the same with us: As soon as we can live this knowledge and as soon as we can live it, and show that we will live it through all storms, anything bad that happens, then the Lord will ratify that ordinance. It is very important.

Joseph Smith said that, “The declaration this morning is, that as soon as the Temple and baptismal font are prepared, we calculate to give the Elders of Israel their washings and anointings, and attend to those last and more impressive ordinances, without which we cannot obtain celestial thrones. But there must be a holy place prepared for that purpose. There was a proclamation made during the time that the foundation of the Temple was laid to that effect, and there are provisions made until the work is completed, so that men may receive their endowments and be made kings and priests unto the Most High God, having nothing to do with temporal things, but their whole time will be taken up with things pertaining to the house of God. These must, however, be a place built expressly for that purpose, and for men to be baptized for their dead. It must be built in this central place; for every man who wishes to save his father, his mother, brothers, sisters and friends, must go through all the ordinances for each one of them separately, the same as for himself, from baptism to ordination, washing and anointings, and receive all the keys and powers of the Priesthood, the same as for himself.” TPJS, pg. 362-363

This quote has far reaching effects. It teaches us that for our ancestors who have passed on, we can get revelation and we can do the ordinances for them and in behalf of them, by proxy. And we can have these ordinances and this knowledge given to them and sealed, because right now, they are in the world of spirits on the other side of the veil. They have not reached the throne of God yet. They are there on the other side of the veil, and we can ensure that they gain this knowledge. Because they are there; they can see us; they can hear us; they hear our thoughts; they see our sadnesses. And so, because they are there, we can go through these things for them.

And so, I would like to encourage everyone. Even though we are only in these bodies, these mortal tabernacles, for a short time, we should tend to the work of God. We should tend to the work of God and not put off securing our families for Eternity, for this is the work of God, to secure our families. All of these things, every step along the gospel path, is to move us from single and separate, from selfish to selfless. It is to move us into the family of God. That is what it is for. The Lord said that He would go and make a place for us in His Father’s house. This is not to be passed over lightly. This is the most important aspect of this life here upon the earth. But we need to know how. We need that endowment of knowledge, that endowment which Elijah teaches, “I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…”

When he comes to His temple…, We cannot afford to miss the opportunity to cleanse ourselves so that when the Lord comes to us, to our temple, that we are ready for him. We cannot put it off.

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much, He sent His Son, Yeshua, to show us the way. It is up to us to follow the way of the Messiah, it is up to us to live His teachings. Only in this way do we have the promise of Eternal Life and Eternal Families.

The Son of God laid down his life for us; He laid it down every day. He never had His own life at all. He only lived for us. And He said that that was the way to heaven - To lay your own life down every day and live for each other.

And the Lord promised us that if we lay down our lives for each other, if we live each day for each other like He lived each day for us, then we will be brought to where He is. And, if we live each day for each other and go to where our Lord has gone, then we will see the fulfillment of His promise, and be together forever!

So let us be encouraged, let us gain the ordinances, let us seek after every step. Let us make sure we get and understand that endowment of knowledge and let us make sure we live it, and we live it through all things, good and bad. So that He will ratify His promise upon us and seal our families together.

And this is my dearest hope, and I do say these things in the name of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah; Amen.

A Glimpse Into The Book Of Mormon:

Kevin: Thank you for a very powerful and a heartfelt message, Joseph. Thank you to Bill and to Chris and to John also for their messages, they are very timely.

I want to talk to you a little bit this evening about the Book of Mormon and Joseph just pointed out that there is knowledge that we need to gain before we can return back to our families that are on the other side of the veil and back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. And one of the key ways that we can do that, I believe, is through following the principles that are taught in the Book of Mormon. So I would like to give you just a glimpse, at this time, what that means, and I want to point out certain things.

First is that, as Joseph has already said, our Heavenly Father loves us. I mean His whole purpose and being and everything that He focuses His efforts around, that Yeshua focuses his efforts around, is for the purpose of us becoming like our Father in Heaven.

He tells us, who are His children, how He lived and how He still lives, and we'll call that the Holy Order, and we can do just that. I want to raise the question for just a minute: Who is Heavenly Father?

We know, for example, that He is a Father. We know that He is also a husband, that we have a Heavenly Mother. And we know that, perhaps most of all, that He's a servant to each of us and set that example for us.

And a lot of churches, when you say that Heavenly Father wants us to become like Him, in those circles, they might think of that as being blasphemy. But I want you to know that it is true. It is very simple.

I know of a man who raised his children on a farm, Joseph can related to this, and his sons and daughters, and he raised them on a farm because he wanted them to learn a certain level of responsibility and have that on a regular basis and daily responsibility. And he had a 3-year-old daughter, and her farm responsibility was to gather eggs from the chickens every day, which she did very dutifully. And one day, she had noticed that one of her hens had gotten out of the chicken coop and she found it in the barn, and this hen had made a nest behind some lumber that had been piled up in the barn, and as she heard the chicken, she bent down and she looked in there, and she could see that the hen had made a nest for herself, and so she reached in underneath the hen to grab the eggs out from underneath the hen and instead of grabbing a handful of eggs, she grabbed a handful of baby chickens. And her father came into the barn shortly after that, saw what his daughter was doing, and he bent down to chat with her. He said, well that's just wonderful. He said, these eggs have hatched, and she says, yes, and he says, I think this chicken has been here for a while, I think these eggs have been here for a while, long enough that they have hatched. She says, yes daddy, that's true. And he said, well, I think that these are going to grow up and be very strong cows when they're grown up, and the 3-year-old looked at her father and she said, no daddy, she said, they're not going to be cows. Nobody had ever taught the 3-year-old this principle. And he says, well it'll certainly be a great big horse when it grows up then. She says, no daddy, it's not going to be a horse. And he says, well they'll grow up and be big strong dogs when they're adults. And she says, no daddy, they're not going to be dogs, they're going to be chickens!

Now nobody had taught the 3-year-old that thing. There are certain things that we know instinctively. And just as those baby chickens are going to follow their lineage and to become hens and to become roosters, our Father in Heaven has given us the opportunity that we can grow up spiritually speaking and become as he is.

Now the Book of Mormon teaches us what we need to do to make that happen and to live this same Holy Order that He lives. And I want to share with you, this is from the Book of Mormon, and we've talked a lot about the Book of Mormon tonight, in fact, virtually all of the scriptures, with the exception of a couple, are from there, and this is from page 161, it's found in the Book of Mosiah, and there's some key points here that are made, and he says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been, from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever; but if he yieldeth to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man, and becometh a saint, through the atonement of Christ, the Lord, and becometh as a child," there's the child connection, "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

There are some key, key points that we need to follow on this if we want to become as our Father in Heaven, we need to humble ourselves, we need to be meek, we need to seek Him, we need to do the things that He has asked us to do.

The Book of Mormon teaches us a lot of principles. It teaches us that as a community, in our community, certain things that we need to avoid, and on page 425, and this is found in the Book of Helaman, it talks about how their civilization had regressed and how wicked it had become. We know that at this time within the Book of Mormon, that the Lamanite people had, for the most part, become righteous. They had actually taught a group of evil men called the Gadianton Robbers that they needed to repent and they taught them and they were able to either convert or force the Gadiantons out of their land.

It has this to say about this and think of this in terms of our own communities that we have today, and what our communities are experiencing and the level of violence and the level of corruption that our communities are experiencing, and see if this doesn't have a familiar ring, and he says, "And it came to pass that the Lamanites did hunt the band of robbers of Gadianton; and they did preach the word of God among the more wicked part of them, insomuch that this band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites. And it came to pass on the other hand, that the Nephites did build them up and support them, beginning at the more wicked part of them, until they had overspread all the land of the Nephites, and had seduced," interesting word, "had seduced the more part of the righteous," not the wicked, they seduced the righteous, "until they had come down to believe in their works, and partake of their spoils, and to join with them in their secret murders and combinations. And thus they did obtain the sole management of the government, insomuch that they did trample under their feet, and smite, and rend, and turn their backs upon the poor, and the meek, and humble followers of God. And thus we see that they were in an awful state, and ripening for an everlasting destruction."

It tells us to repent, repeatedly, we are often reminded of that. But it also tells us what happens when we do repent and in the Book of Alma, it shares with us, after Alma and his brethren, the sons of Mosiah, had been preaching, Ammon and Aaron and Omner and Himni and their brethren, he was teaching his brethren, he was glorying in the Lord, and he made this statement, "Behold," speaking of the Lord, "He did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls. And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there, that knoweth these things? I say unto you, There is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent; yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing: unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such, to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it hath been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance."

Powerful message, and it points out these things are worthy of following up and studying. That's found on page 297 in the Book of Mormon. It tells us what happens en mass to us as a people when we repent, when we do the things that Father wants us to do, has asked us to do.

It tells us in the Book of Alma, let me get my bearings here, "And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the Judges, there was peace," that's a good thing to have today, which we don't have a lot of, "save it were the pride which began to enter into the church; not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church... and they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren... This was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction." Well, I've just read you the wrong scripture.

Sufficeth to say that when we do what Father in Heaven asks us to do, there's a lot of joy and there's a lot of rejoicing, when we do the right thing.

When we do good to other people, we feel good, we feel it in out hearts. The times that I feel the best and the times that I feel the closest to Father, is when I am doing what He sent me here to do, and that is, as Joseph pointed out, to love each other, to love our fellow man.

There are thousands of truths that are taught in the Book of Mormon that Heavenly Father has given to us, it is given to us for our benefit, for our learning. And we know that this life is a probationary period, it doesn't last long. I have been recently reflecting upon I'm 66 years old and to me, I don't feel 66 years old, I just don't, not up here anyway. My body tells me something different, but I don't feel like it in my mind. But I can tell you that I have far fewer years ahead of me than I have behind me, and I know that time is kind of drawing nigh, but there's an issue that is going to face each of us one day.

Let me share with you just a brief story in conclusion, and it's called, Pearl of Great Price. I told this in family home evening a few weeks ago, and I would like to share it for some of you that might not have had the opportunity to hear it.

There was a man that was pearl farmer, he lived in a foreign country, away from where ever you live, and it was his job, and he toiled at this for many years. And each day he would go out, he would go out into the ocean and he would dive down in these shallow bays and inlets, and he would dive for oysters, which would contain pearls, hopefully, maybe 1 in 150 or 200 oysters might contain a pearl. And he earned a simple living for his wife and his children, for his family. And one day, as he was diving, he found a great oyster, a very large one. He brought it up to the surface, got into his boat, and he opened the oyster up, and inside the oyster was a huge pearl, largest that he had ever seen, or had ever even heard of, and as the sun shone on the pearl, he saw iridescence and multiple colours in it. He saw shades of purple and pink, magenta. We've all kind of looked at an eggplant probably before, and you see these see these basic black skin on an eggplant, but you have these other colour that are mixed in with it, and he was stunned. And so he thought, well, I think I can row into the shore and leave for the rest of the day, take the rest of the day off. And he went into the city near where he lived, and there in the city was a very wealthy merchant, and as he went into the merchant's shop, he approached the counter which the merchant sat behind, and he pulled out of his pocket a handkerchief, and he opened it up, and there on the counter, the merchant saw for the first time, this great pearl, tremendous, beautiful, and large! Larger than he had ever seen, and he had seen many pearls. And so he paid the man handsomely for the pearl. And he took the pearl back into his office, and he set it on his desk and he just stared at it for the longest time, and finally, he thought to himself, I need to have a container to be able to keep this pearl in, but I don't want just any container, I need the best container that can be made for it, because it is such a great pearl. And so he assembled the finest craftsmen from all over the region to come, and as they sat in his office, he revealed the pearl to them, and they were dumbfounded when they saw it. And he said, I would like you to make me a box for this. He said, I would like the box to be made of exotic woods inlayed into the box. He said, I want the box to be just so, I want beautiful hinges and trim work on it. As you open the lid of the box, he said, I want a depression in it that is lined with velvet and a silk braid going around the edge of the box, that I can place my pearl. And so the workman took the measurements for the pearl and they set off, and several months later, they had completed their assignment and they brought it back to the merchant, and the merchant placed the pearl into the box and he was very happy with the results. He thought, this is a box that is befitting of my pearl, it's beautiful. And so he took the box and he placed it into the showcase in his storefront. And one day, a foreign man came into the shop and as he looked around at the variety of different things that the store keeper had, he finally came to case where the pearl was contained. And he said to the merchant, sir, he said, this is most beautiful thing that I have ever seen, it's extraordinary. And the merchant, with a measure of pride on his face, smiled and he said, yes, it is. And he said, there is none other like it. And the man says, well, I have to have it. And he says, well, it's very expensive. And he said, price is not an object, whatever you need, I'll pay that. And the merchant said, very well. And so as he reached into his showcase, he grabbed the pearl and he began to bring it out of the box and out of the showcase, and the man says, no, no, no, no! I don't want the pearl, I want the box!

Now my brothers and sisters, the pearl is the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is the thing that brings joy and happiness, it is the principles which our Father in Heaven wants us to live, it is the Holy Order that he has given us to live, that will bring us back to Him.

We've heard some very insightful and very wise counsel given to us tonight. It is the good news, the gospel, that our Father in Heaven has given us to become like him, and it is shared in perhaps greater clarity and greater detail than in any of the sacred scriptures which we have, which he has revealed to us. And this is where true joy and happiness comes from.

I would encourage, and it's my prayer that we can be wise in the days of our probation, that we can love God, that we can love each other, and that we can treat each other as Father wants us to treat each other, with love, with kindness, and with respect, and the way that we would want to be treated ourselves.

And I share that message with you in the name of the Lord Yeshua Messiah, amen.

Conclusion:
Joseph: Thank you very much, Kevin, and thank you very much everyone. It certainly has been a beautiful evening, this evening, and we have heard many great and marvelous things, and I sure hope that everybody's hearts are encouraged and will have a renewed devotion to get to the Lord and to create that relationship with Him. So this concludes our Winter Conference, near the end of the year here, and we look forward to springtime, when we get to meet again, and enjoy each other's company.

Closing prayer: Amy
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee that we could be here, and we thank Thee that a lot of people could be here, over Zoom, and we thank Thee for the blessing of the electronics here as well. We thank Thee for the lessons that we were just taught and we thank Thee for all of the scriptures and all of the truths that we have. We thank Thee for all of the depths of the truths that we can keep learning, and we thank Thee for the scriptures that we can just keep going and finding all of the pieces that we need to be able to learn. Please help us to do well and turn our hearts to Thee and please help anybody who wants to turn to Thee, to turn to Thee. In the name of Yeshua Messiah; Amen.